a snowball's chance in hell

the audition was yesterday. yay! now, you know what a dork i am, so you won't be surprised to hear that i dressed the bean up in an outfit from target (thank you, nanners and brent!) for the day.

we left the house at 11 for our 12:10 appointment. traffic in the l.a. area is always so freaking unpredictable, and it's always better to be early than late, so there you go. and luckily, the roads were clear all the way there, so we actually arrived at the studio almost half an hour early. parking was a little tricky, though, so i was glad we had some wiggle room.

the bean had fallen asleep about halfway through the drive, and my poor baby only got a half-hour nap by the time we parked. oy. but she was her usual cheerful self, which was great. i dragged the stroller out, got her settled, and we headed off to the studio entrance.

at the other auditions that we've gone to, it's been really easy - you get there at your scheduled time, fill out a form, hand over a photo card, and wait for about 5 minutes before going in to see the casting folks and take a picture or two. but as we rolled up to this audition, i realized that i were probably being pretty optimistic in thinking we'd make it back home in time to pick up the teen from school. yikes!

(please forgive the rather fuzzy iPhone pics. i was totally trying to be stealth about it)

we signed in, picked up our numbered form, and found a spot to sit down. i glanced down at our number:

then i overheard someone say "what number are they at right now?"

and the answer? "102."

shit! thank goodness for MIL, who was all lined up to pick up the teen if we didn't make it. i called her to let her know that we'd be a while, and she was only too happy to hang out and take care of business.

i got to talking to a couple of the other moms there, in between playing 5-card draw poker and checking e-mails on my iPhone. and coupled with some advice i'd gotten on the nest's parenting board, i came to realize that my woes about being a human pacifier and possibly having the bean in our bed for the long haul were nothing compared to other issues we could be facing. i listened to them complain about constant crying and fussing, grumpiness, hitting, biting, not eating - and now i get it. i get it! i would much rather have my sweet, good-natured, happy bean just the way she is, rather than a grumpy gus who naps and sleeps on cue.

anyway, we sat there for about an hour or so, waiting for our number to be called. the bean killed time by snacking on cheerios, rummaging through my purse, and watching the other babies in fascination. they were casting several different age groups, from newborns to 1-year-olds, so there were lots of kids in varying ages present. and then, around 1:00, it was finally our turn!

i was instructed to stand on the mark, hold the bean in my left arm, and hold up the form with our number in the other hand. turns out, they're casting moms for the job too. ha! as the teen said later, "wouldn't it be funny if you got the job and she didn't?" yeah.

after the photographer took a shot of us with our number, she had me sit the bean down on the mark and face the light. i stood off to the side and watched her blink a couple of times before catching sight of the camera pointed at her, and then she broke into a big grin and clapped her hands. what a ham!

and that was it! we got back to the car, headed back onto the freeway, and found ourselves back home with enough time to stop for food (i was starving because i hadn't eaten all freaking day long). when we pulled up to the teen's school, we were even ten minutes early. whee!

so i called MIL, who was cooling her heels at the grandparents' house, to let her know she was off the hook. we made plans for us to stop by after dropping the teen off at her tutor so that we could visit for a while, and that was it! i was so relieved to have made my way to l.a. and back and still be able to see the teen, who's with her dad this week.

the shoot for the catalog is next week, and i know they could wait till the day before to let us know if we got the job or not. but with 150 kids in front of us, and most likely that many after us, i'm not holding my breath. i mean, they were handing out numbers in the 200s when we left! and there were some really gorgeous kids there. so while it would be cool as hell to be hired, we also won't be too disappointed if we don't hear back.

no, for now, we'll just be happy with being the upcoming holiday nest baby ;)

in other bean news, we've finally decided to take her for her first haircut. i'd heard about a children's spa in l.a. (shut up, i can hear the groaning and see the eyerolling from here) near the grove, and so i called them to check for pricing and availability for this weekend. and yay, they had an opening! it'll be lovely - we can grab lunch at the farmers market and stroll around the shops in the afternoon.

i'm thinking maybe something like that adorable suri cruise:

the bean's got some funky layers underneath, and they're almost shoulder length. the rest of her hair, while it's got some length, is kind of scraggly and unkempt-looking, so i think we'll just take the whole thing up to her shoulders - maybe chin-length - and get it all cleaned up so that it's all one length. i'm still debating the bangs, and mr. picky dadzilla doesn't seem to mind either way.

ooh, i can't wait!